Another day and another unsubstantiated media story about how Celtic might lose out on one of their top transfer targets; this time it’s McTominay from Manchester United. I know there has been a lot of chatter on this, but there’s no truth in the idea that we have even remotely considered making a move for him. We have other targets.
Don’t get me wrong, McTominay is an outstanding footballer and capable of anchoring any midfield. Which is precisely the problem and the reason Manchester United, who are willing to let him go, have slapped a £30 million tag on him.
We aren’t going to pay anywhere near that and nor should we. The media knows it full well, so all these rumours which they’ve blown up into real interest aren’t really designed to do anything more than create a sense that we risk missing him.
One outlet ran a story last night about a Slovenian striker signing for Bordeaux and said we missed out on him. I have literally never heard of the guy in my life and if there were stories linking him to Celtic then I have honestly not seen them.
It just seems to me that it this time of year this is one of the games that they play.
Part of it is laziness. These people would rather invent a story than go out and look for one, and transfer time gives them plenty of opportunities to get up content that doesn’t really say or do anything more than add to the noise. But part of it, without a doubt, is a constant effort to put us on the bad end of as many of these shoddy narratives as they can.
McTominay would be a fine signing, of course he would.
But not at that price, and the only other thing that leaves is getting him on loan and why would we? We have the money to go out and buy a top player of our own, and my understanding is that we’re in the market for a player or two who will change things for next season in a big way.